Expectancy
By Barbara Chadwick


Yesterday I went to the symphony with a friend. As the conductor lifted his baton I held my breath in anticipation, the musicians held their instruments, ready, expecting the downbeat. The music began, filling the concert hall with glorious sound. The instruments interplayed, some made their musical statements while others waited in anticipation to make their statements.

A man held the cymbals in his hands, leaning forward with his knees slightly bent and when the conductor gestured toward him – Pow! We could almost feel the reverberation.

Sometimes the conductor shook his clenched fists with grand gestures and the musicians played with all their might. Other times his hands were gentle, swaying, and the musicians played soft, lyrical phrases.

The last piece was The Planets by Gustav Holst. As they played the first movement entitled, War, we heard the clash of cymbals, the drone of the basses and the boom of the drums. The hurry, the push and the chaos of war was evident.

The second movement called, Peace, was exactly that. It was placid, quiet and restful. The third movement, Messenger, was a skitter, a run. As the other four movements continued I was reminded of our Sunday School lesson that morning from II Kings chapters 6 and 7. It’s a story of war and siege, starvation and hopelessness, then grand deliverance.

In capsule form: The king of Aram held the Israelites captive, under siege. They were starving. The king of Israel gave up any expectancy or hope of deliverance and said, “Why should I wait for the LORD?” (II Kings 6:33) Four lepers at the city gate also had no food, no hope and no expectancy of deliverance. They decided to go to the Aramean camp. Maybe those foreigners would give them some food. Entering the camp they discovered it was abandoned, “for the LORD had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army” (II Kings 7:6), so this huge army had run for their lives. The messengers, the lepers, ran back and reported to the king of Israel who thought it was a trap but sent a few men to investigate. They discovered it was true then the Israelites were saved by provisions the Arameans had left behind.

Over and over in the Bible God tells us to not be afraid because He will rescue us. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

We do get weary but as the musicians kept their eyes on the conductor expecting their cue, let us keep our eyes upward, our focus in expectancy on the LORD. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)